MillerCoors announced on Monday that it plans to close its Eden, N. C., brewery, where approximately 520 employees work, by September 2016. Some of the products currently produced in Eden will be transitioned to Milwaukee over the next 12 months, but it is not yet known if any jobs will be created here.
“While Milwaukee will get some of the production from Eden, in terms of hiring, headcount requirements will be evaluated on a brewery-by-brewery basis to ensure we have adequate staffing to maintain our high quality and service standards,” said spokesman Marty Maloney.
Chicago-based MillerCoors, which brews much of its beer in Milwaukee, said it is closing Eden due to declining volume and a significant overlap in distribution between Eden and the Shenandoah, Va., brewery, which is approximately 200 miles away.
“(On Monday) we made the difficult decision to close our brewery in Eden, N.C., in order to optimize our brewery footprint and streamline operations for greater efficiency across our remaining seven breweries,” said chief integrated supply chain officer Fernando Palacios.
In 2014, Eden produced 7.1 million barrels of beer, which were shipped to 280 independently-owned distributors. Brands include Blue Moon seasonals, Coors Light, Miller Lite and Miller High Life.
Besides Milwaukee, products currently produced in Eden will be transitioned to other breweries, including Shenandoah, Va.; Trenton, Ohio; Fort Worth, Texas; and Albany, Ga., over the next 12 months. Maloney said it has not been determined which brands will be produced in which cities.
Since the creation of MillerCoors seven years ago, the company said volume has declined by nearly 10 million barrels. This volume loss is due to a variety of factors, including economic challenges, an explosion of choice and fragmentation within the beer business, and a dramatic change in the way consumers engage with brands.
As a result of declining volume, MillerCoors breweries are operating at an increasingly inefficient capacity. While the company said it is taking steps to strengthen its overall portfolio to drive long-term growth in volume and share, continued volume declines are expected each of the next few years.
“We take great pride in supporting the communities where we live and work,” Palacios said. “We’ve been proud to be part of the Eden community since we shipped our first products in 1978. We will work with community leaders to make sure we continue to support the community while we are brewing beer in Eden.”
